Planned Giving—Bequests

By making a planned gift to the Animal Health Foundation, you can benefit animals in several ways as well as gain financial and tax benefits for you and your family. Your estate planner can explain the different ways you can give to the Animal Health Foundation.

Bequests

The lasting impact of bequests—both large and small—has helped the Animal Health Foundation by funding many projects (links to past and present project pages). For many, a charitable bequest is the easiest and best way to make a gift to the Foundation. By means of your will or other estate plan, you can name the Animal Health Foundation as the beneficiary of a portion of your estate, or of specific assets in your estate. Many of the most powerful gifts with an enduring impact have been bequests, including the Mary Edna Boydston Bequest, which has allowed the Foundation to help many animals.

A bequest allows you to honor a loved one (pet, friend or family member), while providing valuable support for the Foundation’s projects.

There is often no cost in making a bequest and doing so will give you the satisfaction knowing your future gift will live on and benefit people and pets.

Benefits of a Bequest

There are no Federal Estate Taxes with an outright gift to the Animal Health Foundation. This means the Foundation is able to use the full amount of the bequest. If the bequest were to an individual, a significant amount would likely go to federal estate taxes. In most cases, bequests are not subject to state inheritance or estate taxes.

If you wish, you may create a separate fund named for yourself or in the honor of a person or a pet you wish to memorialize. Named funds remain visible in the Foundations promotional material and on the web site because of the projects they support. This visibility encourages others to give.

Discuss with your financial adviser how helping AHF can benefit you and your family.

Types of Bequests

Cash Bequest

Bequest of Property

The Animal Health Foundation receives specific assets, such as securities, real estate, or tangible personal property such as real estate, a car, a boat, or other personal property.

Residuary Bequest

The Animal Health Foundation receives all or a percentage of the remainder of your estate after the payment of any other bequests and expenses.

Retirement Plan

You can designate the Animal Health Foundation as a beneficiary of part or all the remainder of your retirement plan. Distributions from retirement plans at the death of the survivor of the account-holder can be subject to both income and estate taxes. In a large estate, these taxes can leave less than half of the plan's assets for your heirs. When you name the Foundation as the beneficiary of the remainder of your retirement plan, 100 percent of the plan's balance is available for helping the Foundation's causes because the distribution avoids income and estate taxes. To make this type of gift you must inform your plan's administrator who will have you execute a “change of beneficiary” form.

Gifts That Pay You Income

You can make a gift to the Animal Health Foundation through a trust or annuity that pays you, your wife and/or another beneficiary annual income for life. At the death of the last income recipient, the remaining principal will transfer to the Animal Health Foundation. You may designate your gift for a particular purpose or give the Foundation's Trustees the flexibility to use the funds where needed most. Benefits include savings on income, capital gains, gift, and/or estate taxes, the ability to convert non-income or low producing assets into a gift with a better return and professional management through Westmount Asset Management, the Foundation's asset management firm.

With Life Income Plans, the donor transfers assets to the life income plan and the donor or beneficiary receives annual income. When the plan terminates the remaining assets go to the Animal Health Foundation.

Charitable Lead Trusts

With a charitable lead trust, you can make annual gifts (for a term of years you choose) to the Animal Health Foundation. You may designate the area you wish to support. While helping the Foundation this intergenerational wealth-transfer tool allows you to provide for your heirs while significantly reducing gift and estate taxes. When the term ends, trust assets go to your heirs.

Annual payments to the Animal Health Foundation can be a fixed amount or can vary based on a percentage of the value of the trust assets. You may establish the trust withthe Foundation or a preferred trust company. Trusts managed by Westmount Asset Management for the Foundation are invested in a diversified portfolio providing exposure to a wide variety of domestic, foreign and emerging market assets. The benefits of Lead Trusts include federal gift and estate tax deductions and appreciation in the asset value during the term of the trust is not subject to estate or gift tax when the trust is terminated. These benefits usually provide your heirs a larger estate after taxes. Cash and low-basis marketable securities are excellent assets to fund this type trust.